NCAA Division III women's ice hockey
As of the 2019–20 season, there were 67 teams competing in NCAA Division III women’s hockey in eight conferences.
NCAA Division III women's ice hockey may begin formal practice on October 15 and are limited to 25 games in the regular season. Four of the five conferences begin practice on this date (all except for the New England Small College Athletic Conference) and once the season begins, most teams practice or play six days per week.
The women's ice hockey championship includes 5 conferences for the NCAA Division III:
Conferences
Eastern College Athletic Conference East
ECAC East is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. There are currently 9 members in the women’s division:[1]
- Castleton University – Castleton, VT
- Manhattanville College – Purchase, NY
- New England College – Henniker, NH
- Nichols College - Dudley, MA
- Norwich University – Northfield, VT
- Plymouth State University – Plymouth, NH
- Salve Regina University – Newport, RI
- University of Massachusetts Boston – Boston, MA
- University of Southern Maine – Gorham, ME
Eastern College Athletic Conference West
ECAC West is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. There are currently 10 members in the women’s division:[2]
- Buffalo State College – Buffalo, NY
- Chatham University – Pittsburgh, PA
- Elmira College – Elmira, NY
- William Smith College - Geneva, NY
- Nazareth College (New York) – Rochester, NY
- Neumann University – Aston, PA
- Plattsburgh State University – Plattsburgh, NY
- SUNY Cortland – Cortland, NY
- SUNY Oswego – Oswego, NY
- SUNY Potsdam – Potsdam, NY
- Utica College – Utica, NY
Middle Atlantic Conference
The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) — not to be confused with the Division I Mid-American Conference, which uses the same initialism — is an umbrella organization of three Division III conferences:
- MAC Commonwealth and MAC Freedom (formally "Middle Atlantic Conference X"), both of which sponsor competition in the same set of 14 sports, but not ice hockey.
- Middle Atlantic Conference (not to be confused with the overall organization), which sponsors competition for Commonwealth and Freedom members in 13 other sports, including hockey.
The following schools compete in MAC women's hockey:[3]
- Alvernia University – Reading, PA (MAC Commonwealth member)
- King's College – Wilkes-Barre, PA (MAC Freedom member)
- Lebanon Valley College – Annville, PA (MAC Commonwealth member)
- Stevenson University – Stevenson, MD (MAC Commonwealth member)
- Wilkes University – Wilkes-Barre, PA (MAC Freedom member)
Arcadia University (Glenside, PA), a MAC Freedom member, will add men's and women's hockey teams in 2021–22.
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is a College Athletic Conference, which competes in the NCAA’s Division 3. As the member schools are located in Minnesota. These women's teams include:[4]
- Augsburg University – Minneapolis, MN
- Bethel University – St. Paul, MN
- College of Saint Benedict – St. Joseph, MN
- Concordia College Minnesota – Moorhead, MN
- Gustavus Adolphus College – St. Peter, MN
- Hamline University – St. Paul, MN
- Saint Mary’s University – Winona, MN
- St. Catherine University – St. Paul, MN
- St. Olaf College – Northfield, MN
- University of St. Thomas – St. Paul, MN
St. Thomas will be expelled from the MIAC after the 2020–21 school year; most of the other members felt that the school had grown too strong for the conference in multiple sports. The school will move to Division I, joining the Summit League in most sports and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in women's hockey.
New England Small College Athletic Conference
The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is the premier historic Division III athletic conference in the United States, consisting of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities located in New England and New York. NESCAC is often referred to as the “Little Ivies”. The women's ice hockey teams that make up NESCAC are:[5]
- Amherst College – Amherst, MA
- Bowdoin College – Brunswick, ME
- Colby College – Waterville, ME
- Connecticut College – New London, CT
- Hamilton College – Clinton, NY
- Middlebury College – Middlebury, VT
- Trinity College – Hartford, CT
- Wesleyan University – Middletown, CT
- Williams College – Williamstown, MA
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association
The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a college athletic conference, which operates in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin ( in the midwestern United States). It participates in the NCAA’s Division III as a hockey-only conference.[6] The women's teams competing in the NCHA are:
- Adrian College – Adrian, MI
- Concordia University Wisconsin – Mequon, WI
- Finlandia University – Hancock, MI
- Lake Forest College – Lake Forest, IL
- Marian University – Fond du Lac, WI
- St. Norbert College – De Pere, WI
- University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire – Eau Claire, WI
- University of Wisconsin–River Falls – River Falls, WI
- University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point – Stevens Point, WI
- University of Wisconsin–Superior – Superior, WI
List of winners
Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up |
2002 | Elmira | 2–1 | Manhattanville |
2003 | Elmira | 5–1 | Manhattanville |
2004 | Middlebury | 2–1 | Wisconsin-Stevens Point |
2005 | Middlebury | 4–3 | Elmira |
2006 | Middlebury | 3–1 | Plattsburgh State |
2007 | Plattsburgh State | 2–1 | Middlebury |
2008 | Plattsburgh State | 3–2 | Manhattanville |
2009 | Amherst | 4–3 (OT) | Elmira |
2010 | Amherst | 7–2 | Norwich |
2011 | Norwich | 5–2 | RIT |
2012 | RIT | 4–1 | Norwich |
2013 | Elmira | 1–0 | Middlebury |
2014 | Plattsburgh State | 9–2 | Norwich |
2015 | Plattsburgh State | 3–2 | Elmira |
2016 | Plattsburgh State | 5–1 | Wisconsin–River Falls |
2017 | Plattsburgh State | 4–3 (OT) | Adrian College |
2018 | Norwich | 2–1 | Elmira |
2019 | Plattsburgh State | 4–0 | |
2020 | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic |
Awards and honors
Laura Hurd Award
The Laura Hurd Award is given to the best player in the Division III.
Award winners
Year | Winner | Position | School |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Sylvia Ryan | Forward | Middlebury College |
2001 | Michelle Labbe | Forward | Middlebury College |
2002 | Sarah Moe | Forward | Gustavus Adolphus College |
2003 | Angela Kapus | Forward/Defense | Middlebury College |
2004 | Molly Wasserman | Forward | Williams College |
2005 | Laura Hurd | Forward | Elmira College |
2006 | Emily Quizon | Forward | Middlebury College |
2007 | Andrea Peterson | Defense | Gustavus Adolphus College |
2008 | Danielle Blanchard[7] | Forward | SUNY Plattsburgh |
2009 | Kayla Coady | Forward | Elmira College |
2010 | Isabel Iwachiw | Goaltender | Trinity College |
2011 | Sarah Dagg[8] | Forward | Rochester Institute of Technology |
2012 | Julie Fortier[9] | Forward | Norwich University |
2013 | Teal Gove[10] | Forward | SUNY Plattsburgh |
2014 | Sydney Aveson[11] | Goaltender | SUNY Plattsburgh |
2015 | Ashley Ryan[12] | Forward | Elmira |
2016 | Michelle Greeneway[13] | Forward | Lake Forest |
2017 | Dani Sibley[13] | Forward | UW-River Falls |
2018 | Melissa Sheeran[13] | Forward | Plattsburgh |
2019 | Bre Simon[14] | Forward | Hamline University |
Winners by school
UW-River Falls || 1
School | Winners |
---|---|
Middlebury College | 4 |
SUNY Plattsburgh | 4 |
Elmira College | 3 |
Gustavus Adolphus College | 2 |
Norwich University | 1 |
Rochester Institute of Technology | 1 |
Trinity College | 1 |
Williams College | 1 |
Hamline University | 1 |
See also
- Laura Hurd Award
- Title IX
- National Collegiate women's ice hockey championship
- Major women's sport leagues in North America
References
- Women's East Hockey
- Women's West hockey
- "MAC to Sponsor Ice Hockey and Men's Volleyball Beginning 2017-18" (Press release). Middle Atlantic Conferences. October 12, 2016. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- MIAC Hockey
- NESCAC Ice Hockey
- A History of Women's Hockey and the NCHA
- "American Hockey Coaches Association". ahcahockey.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- "Tiger hockey—women and men—set national records at season’s end - RIT News - Athenaeum". rit.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- "Julie Fortier wins Laura Hurd Award :: USCHO.com :: U.S. College Hockey Online". uscho.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- "American Hockey Coaches Association - Teal Gove of Plattsburgh State is D-III Women's Player of the Year". ahcahockey.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- "Sydney Aveson wins Laura Hurd award; Women's All-Americans announced - D3hockey". d3hockey.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- "American Hockey Coaches Association - Ashley Ryan of Elmira is D-III Women's Hockey Player of the Year". ahcahockey.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- "Finalists Announced for 2019 Laura Hurd Aware Winner; Women's All-Americans announced - D3hockey". d3hockey.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- "Hamline's Bre Simon is 2019 Laura Hurd Award Winner as AHCA Division III Women's Player of the Year; Women's All-Americans announced - D3hockey". d3hockey.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- American Hockey Coaches Association, AHCA Major Awards Archived 2012-03-01 at WebCite